Australia: All 10 Albums!

THIS POST IS FOR DONICA AND ME! I have been working on these albums off and on since May, between all our other trips and activities, and I'm finally fulfilling my promise to FINISH them now and not let them fade into some distant past!

So, here they are for our own posterity and remembrance, all in one place:

1. Australia: SYDNEY

It's a city full of parks, fountains (this is the Archibald Fountain), churches/cathedrals, landmarks and history.

2. Australia: SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

This is probably one of the world's most recognizable landmarks!
I took pictures of it from every which way!

3. Australia: SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE

I'm guessing this landmark comes in second to the Opera House in the city.

4. Australia: SYDNEY HARBOUR

Apart from the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, there's enough else to keep you busy for many days and harbour cruises! We took two harbour cruises and could have taken more!

5. Australia: SYDNEY TARONGA ZOO

OK, so this isn't a big album but I didn't know where else to put it!

6. Australia: THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

Nephew David took us to the Blue Mountains 50 km west of Sydney for a day of ooohing and aaahing.

7. Australia: THE GOLD COAST

After a week in Sydney, we drove a rental car along the Gold Coast north to Brisbane, spending a night in Coffs Harbour along the way: 982 km/610 miles.

8. Australia: BRISBANE

Talk about another incredible city! And we even met up with 2 of my blogger friends!

9. Australia: MAGNETIC ISLAND

After a long weekend in Brisbane, we flew to Townsville, in Queensland, and took the ferry over to Magnetic Island for a week of unbelievable R&R.

10. Australia: MAGNETIC ISLAND ECOLOGY

While on Magnetic Island, we were rewarded with myriad treats for the eyes. They say the island is one of Australia's best-kept secrets. It's true!

So now I can breath a sigh of relief (the photos are finally organized and published). AND I can move on to Brussels and a concert on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam. Miles to go before I sleep.

Lest We Forget: Anzac Day

(First of all, in case you're curious, I've added an update with photos to the last post about the almost-dead, sunken boat.)

Anzac Day. When we scheduled our few days in Brisbane, Australia, between Sydney and Magnetic Island, we were totally unaware that Australia would be celebrating one of their most important holidays during our stay. Rank it up there just behind Christmas.

We arrived on Wednesday evening and left Saturday morning. On Friday was the holiday. It is commemorated by Australia and New Zealand on April 25 every year "to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I." (Wiki)

Talk about a fabulous war memorial!

What surprised us more than anything was how looooong the parades were, both in time and length. AND how many people were out to watch and applaud!


Everywhere there were reminders that this was a time to...remember! Poppies are the symbol for remembrance.





Especially the old-timers remembered.









The Vietnam vets looked just like ours in the States and brought back too many memories of post-traumatic stress disorder. But I think these guys looked a bit less stressed than ours?







Without question, there was pride, pomp and circumstance. Donica and I both had tears in our eyes when we saw the patriotism. We mentioned it later to a British couple who agreed that even in their country they don't see it like we did in Australia. It gave us pause!

(And yes, that left front man really was a giant!)


Lest we forget!

There is no way in the world the Australians or New Zealanders will ever forget their war heroes. They are a breed set apart, for sure. They do not have our own history. They are proud not to forget!

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Tomorrow morning Donica and I fly back to Atlanta from Amsterdam on two separate planes but at almost the same time. She'll then fly to NYC on Monday for the rest of the week...before we start gearing up for the big wedding the following week in Hawaii! Daughter Amy is definitely in count-down stage, as are we!

BRIZ-bun = Brisbane

If you go there, yes, you have to pronounce it correctly!

Next to Sydney, it was our favorite city to see in Australia...even though it was our only other big city to see. HA! It was well worth the drive from Sydney to Brisbane in two days, with an overnight in Coffs Harbour along Australia's southeastern shore. For one thing, the farther we got north out of Sydney, the more the sun began to shine.

Every city has to have its Town Hall and Brisbane was no exception. They even let you go to the top for free, which I did.

But the main building I just had to see was Brisbane's and Queensland's oldest structure, The Windmill. YES, folks. That's a windmill without sails. It was brought over to Australia by a British soldier who could not maintain the operation of the sails. He was a soldier, not an engineer! So he ended up using convicts to tread the grain mill for him by hand.

An elderly man, who saw me taking lots of pictures, stopped to tell me some of the history. Apparently said soldier really mistreated the convicts and was despised by them. When his body was later found in the river, it was assumed the convicts did him in, even though it was never proven!

One fun way to see a city, we have discovered, is to take a city sightseeing bus tour (those hop-on-and-off buses) OR, if there is a river, a river cruise. We opted for the latter and had a heyday with pictures. Well, I did, that is.

See the itty-bitty people climbing up to the top (just like on the Harbour Bridge in Sydney!)?

I think you could safely say I'm almost as mesmerized by bridges as I am windmills. Almost.

It so happens that three of my Shutterchance blogger friends live in Brisbane! You know me: I had to meet them. One of them was out of the country but the two remaining guys were game for a meet-up. First we had lunch with Neal (bottom left) and then supper with Adrian (upper right). Even Donica enjoyed herself, so it was a great time for all.

We were there from Wednesday evening to Saturday morning before flying to Townsville and taking the ferry to Magnetic Island. That Friday was a public holiday, Anzac Day, second to Christmas in importance. I would compare it to our Memorial Day in the States. But that will be my next post....

Australia's Tallest

The two tallest structures in Australia just happen to be in places where we have been on this trip. Are we lucky, or what! And yes, we're still here, on Magnetic Island now, off the coast from Townsville in northern Queensland. But that's for later.

The first "tallest" is the Sydney Tower in, of course, Sydney, which happens to be the second tallest. Since we were in Sydney first, that's what we saw first. Donica, who is afraid of heights (she who flies all over tarnation!), chose NOT to go to the top with me. It stands at 1,000 ft (305 m) above Sydney's central business district.

This was the best I could get of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Those dang skyscrapers were hogging the view!

But I was a happy camper to get the Magic Hour as the sun was setting. One of our days we had taken a cruise all around that harbor, so it was quite exciting to see it from above.

The Roman Catholic St.Mary's Cathedral was the only church we visited while in Sydney (apart from nephew-in-law David's church, where he plays the organ). A magnificent structure from both above and below!

After a week in Sydney with the boys, we took two days to drive a rental car up the east coast to Brisbane (pronounced BRIZ-bun) and stopped at Surfer's Paradise along the way, just 52 km south of the city. That just happens to be the only city in Australia now that has a Hard Rock Cafe, so Donica just had to stop, of course. Lucky for me because that's also where the tallest of Australia's structures is!

The Q1 building in Surfer's Paradise is Australia's tallest structure and the world's tallest residential tower, at 1,058 ft (322.5 m). This time Donica was game to join me at the top and was okay as long as she didn't look down.

I looked down, of course, and was lucky once again to get the Magic Hour as the sun was going down.

The ocean is on the left (same direction as the photo above) but if you look inland a bit, you can see the Nerang River that runs through the Gold Coast. What a playground for those who like water!

In my next post I'll take you to Brisbane, where we spent 3 days and actually met up with two of my blogger guys from Shutterchance. Talk about a small world! It seems to be getting smaller by the day!

And BTW, once we headed out of Sydney, all our rainy days turned to sunshine!

One Night Only

If you had one night only to celebrate, let's say, your 10th anniversary, what would you do! Wanna hear what Donica came up with (in the midst of all our hecticness!)? She flew us out to New York City for a two-day, one-night trip to see/hear the One Night Only Elton John fundraiser for Hillary Clinton on April 9th.

It was held at Radio City Music Hall in NYC and raised $2.5 million for her campaign. I don't care what you think of Hillary (especially vs. Obama), but I was really jazzed. The fact we were even flying anywhere was a secret until midnight before we left Wednesday morning, the 9th. And I had no clue what I was going to until 15 minutes before we got there.
That Donica sure loves her secrets and surprises!

To see Hillary, Bill and Chelsea, all in one fell swoop (well two, if you count before and after the concert), was frosting on the cake. By now Donica has taken me to every Elton John concert that has come to Atlanta in the last 10 years. But this one was extra special!

As a BTW, in case you heard the Elton quote: "I never cease to be amazed at the misogynistic attitude of some of the people of this country, and I say to hell with it," I recently read something from a columnist that gives me pause. He said that sexism is still "politically correct" in the USA, but racism is not! You can still read/hear people call Hillary a B----, but no one will dare call Obama a N-----. Think about it!

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Switch gears now and let me tell you that on Monday Donica and I leave for a 3-week vacation to Australia! I know! We fly to Sydney to first spend a week with my gay nephew and his partner (both Davids!). Then we'll drive up the east coast to Brisbane for another week, and from there we'll fly to the barrier reef, where we'll stay on Magnetic Island.

I took this photo in Utrecht, Holland, back in March, and leave it as my R&R image for while we're gone. What a life!

But right now, Donica needs this vacation more than we all realize. We will have a house sale this weekend at Mom's, trying to sell as much as possible. In the meantime, Donica is trying to get the Will probated so we can sell the house, and yada, yada, yada. It's so overwhelming it's hard to know how to deal with it. We have sympathy for people who just walk away from it all!

So, please send out your prayers on our behalf. This, too, shall pass, we know. If it could just be "one night only," we'd be happy campers. But it's not. So we pray for God's sweet mercy.

I'll see you when we come back from Australia the first week in May, which (thankfully) is longer than one night!